Torre Abbey Museum Museum, Historic House, Gallery, Garden and Cafe

Cloister garden

Holman Hunt

Torre Abbey clock tower

Torre Abbey undercroft

Torre Abbey undercrofts

Frederick Thrupp

Medieval chant

'Rower', Sharon Windebank

Dining Room

Judith Chandler, Body&Mind

Face2Face - Summer Exhibition

Tattoo: British Tattoo Art Revealed

TattooTales

Torbay Tattoo Tales

Est. in 1196, Torre Abbey is a museum of history and art housed in an Ancient Scheduled Monument on the iconic South Devon coast.

Based in Torquay, this family friendly museum is a centre for creativity and curiosity - initiating cultural conversations and inspiring local life through a seasonal programme of exhibitions, events and activities across visual arts, history and live performance.

Kids and teens up to 18 years go free, and the 1196 Club offers adult membership with unlimited visits from just £16 a year. Reasons aplenty to visit today.

It would be impossible to find a more appropriate showcase for Torbay’s art collection than historic Torre Abbey, home to some of theTorbay's leading citizens for over 800 years. The present appearance of the Galleries at Torre Abbey is largely due to the Cary family who, during the 18th century, refashioned the Abbey as a magnificent country house. Like all country houses, one of the Abbey’s functions was to provide an appropriate setting for its owners’ pictures and portraits, which as well as being intrinsically beautiful served to underline the family’s social standing by demonstrating their wealth, taste, patronage of the arts, and venerable family pedigree.

The present art collection is largely the result of donations or bequests made by local people since 1930, when the Council purchased Torre Abbey from the Cary family and turned it into an art gallery.

The Abbey's permanent collection is particularly rich in 19th century works. These generally reflect the taste of the genteel families, many from London, who bought villas in Torquay during the 19th century, in the days when it served as a fashionable winter resort. The collections include landscapes, marine and genre paintings by British artists, concentrating in particular on views of South Devon and its coastal waters, and works by local artists. The Friends of Torre Abbey was formed in 1992 to raise funds for the benefit of the collections, and has assisted with a number of recent purchases as well as making a substantial contribution to the restoration fund.

Torquay's Oldest Building

During a massive three-year restoration project some stunning finds have been unearthed including a 14th Century stone grave coverstone, featuring a tree-of-life carving in near-perfect condition. The slab was excavated from under the cloister walk and covered the grave of one of the Abbey's Saristan. Explore the ancient undercrofts of the Abbey, built in 1196 for the “White Canons”, named for their distinctive white habits.

The canons who lived here over 800 years ago, when Torquay did not exist and there was only a collections villages and small hamlets, followed a strict regime of silence and prayer. Their austere lives contrasted with their great wealth, gained from taxes or ‘tithes’ of grain and other produce from the Abbey’s vast lands. The Tithe Barn, built to store the grain, became known as the Spanish Barn after it served as a prison for 397 sailors captured from the Spanish Armada. This is now a popular and unique venue for exhibitions, weddings and special events.

Throughout the ages Torre Abbey has welcomed many thousands of visitors: weary travellers cared for by the canons, aristocrats and naval officers hosted by the Carys and Olympic hopefuls attending the 1947 sailing events in the bay. Visitors are now once again welcome to explore Torquay’s oldest and most fascinating building.

Torre Abbey
The King's Drive
Torquay
TQ2 5JE
tel: 01803 293 593
email: torreabbeyenquiries@torbay.gov.uk

View my website http://www.torre-abbey.org.uk/